


Emergency Brakes

by Tarlan



Series: Emergency Colors [10]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Community: fanfic100, Drama, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-11
Updated: 2007-02-11
Packaged: 2017-10-20 21:11:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/217139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kavanagh wants the chief scientist position and exposes Rodney and Daniel's occasional affair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Emergency Brakes

**Author's Note:**

> Fanfic100 challenge. Prompt 015. Blue

"Kavanagh's sucking up to Elizabeth," Daniel murmured while tracing the outline of Rodney's nipple with a wet fingertip. The nipple had tightened beneath his questing finger, drawing small hitches of pleasure from Rodney each time he rubbed over it. The sheen of drying sweat on their bodies gave Rodney an ethereal look within the low blue light radiating from an elaborate design etched into the walls, its color ghosting across Rodney's pale flesh.

Rodney sighed as he reached out to run fingers along Daniel's smooth jaw and into his hair, drawing Daniel down into a sweet yet dirty kiss. He hummed appreciatively into Daniel's mouth, the sound vibrating between them, igniting every nerve ending as it shot straight to Daniel's groin, but then Rodney pulled back a fraction. Long eyelashes fanned in sated pleasure, the feather-touch tickling against Daniel's cheek. Daniel shivered as Rodney's warm breath heated his rapidly cooling skin as Rodney nuzzled into the side of his neck.

"Man's an idiot compared to me. If Weir has any sense at all, she'll recognize that, and if she doesn't then I wouldn't want to work for her."

Daniel snorted out a soft, breathy laugh because this was the arrogant Rodney he loved. Perhaps not with the same all consuming passion that he felt for Jack but enough to find comfort and pleasure with him. He recalled how he had come barging into Rodney's room earlier, full of frustration and vibrating tension as yet another attempt to decipher the Ancient markings had left him floundering. He knew the answer he was seeking was right in front of his nose and yet it remained elusive, his fingertips grazing it as he traced the hieroglyphics the Ancients had left behind. He knew what each symbol meant but strung together none of it made any sense. The one word he could make out - the word that wet his insatiable appetite for knowledge - was Atlantis; the mythical city that had sunk beneath the waves. Atlantis was the lost city of the Ancients and Daniel knew it was within their grasp if only he could figure out where it lie.

Rodney had looked up from his laptop, eyes widening comically as Daniel grasped his arm, dragging him to his feet and then shoved his tongue as far down Rodney's throat as he could manage. A moment's hesitancy and Rodney was giving back as hard as he was getting, with fingers tangling in layers of clothing, scrabbling to reach warm flesh beneath until they were tumbling onto the narrow bed, barely noticing the way it creaked ominously under their sudden, combined weight. All Daniel could recall now was that quick but glorious release, with his whole body melting in pleasure as Rodney's hand brought him over the edge, feeling the heat splatter over his exposed belly.

Only afterwards, once the afterglow had dissipated, did they pull off the layers of clothing and kick off boots, lying almost naked apart from socks in each other's arms with the heavy cover drawn up to their waists. The warmth radiating from Rodney's skin kept the chill of the room at bay but he could feel the fine trembles starting through Rodney's body as the heat of their coupling faded. Reluctantly, Daniel took one last long gaze at the beautiful sight of Rodney's naked skin glowing in blue light, and dragged the cover up. He buried his face against Rodney's shoulder, murmuring his approval as the warmth seeped back into his body.

"Atlantis, Rodney," he whispered. "Its location is here somewhere. All I have to do is..."

His words were muffled as Rodney lifted Daniel's chin and kissed him soundly before drawing back and staring hard into Daniel's eyes. His voice was low, the words breathed in Ancient, "You'll find it."

Daniel shivered, the soft words a turn-on that sent a renewed spark of desire through him, bringing back bittersweet memories of Jack's soft words spoken in a low, rough voice before he said what he thought might be his last 'goodbye' before stepping into the stasis pod. The bitterness of the memory faded beneath the knowledge that Jack was both alive and well again, leaving only the husky tones of a long dead language to drift across his hearing and seep deep into his bones. Rodney's crooked mouth straightened into a smirk as Daniel's eyes fluttered closed and he rubbed his rapidly hardening cock against Rodney's thigh.

"That was uncalled for," he murmured back in Ancient but knew the scolding edge was lost beneath the smile that he could not stop from spreading across his face.

"You are so easy," Rodney stated in Ancient, almost scathingly, his expression becoming insufferably smug as Daniel's cock twitched harder against his leg.

With one swift movement, Daniel rolled onto Rodney and pinned him beneath his weight, his legs straddling Rodney's thighs, hands holding Rodney's arms by the wrists, forcing them to the bed beside his occasional lover's head. The cover had slipped down, bathing Rodney in Ancient blue light that seemed to electrify the deeper blue of his eyes. If he had never met Jack then this exasperating, arrogant, exceptionally brilliant man might have been more than enough for Daniel, and he might have been enough for Rodney too. Perhaps it was better this way though. Friends with benefits. Wonderful, bone-melting, mind-blowing benefits.

"Let me in your body." He knew the Ancient words held little romance but Rodney relaxed beneath him in submission anyway, that quirky smile and the crinkling around his eyes saying more than mere words could manage.

With his body still relaxed from their earlier lovemaking, Daniel stretched him easily, whispering reassurance in Ancient as he pushed Rodney's knees back towards his chest and breached his body. Sinking into the hot, tight channel was a joy even beyond the delicious sensations rippling through him. The caring and trust shone from Rodney's eyes, mingled with heated desire as Rodney gave a long guttural moan of pleasure when Daniel pressed in deeper. The rhythm he set was slow and easy, neither of them desperate to reach completion and if he called out Jack's name as his mind whitened out, he found nothing but compassion and teasing resignation in the man lying sated beneath him.

Exhausted, Daniel flopped onto his back, forearm draped over his eyes, and mumbled an apology as he gazed at Rodney from beneath his arm.

Rodney rolled his eyes, favoring him with a look he normally reserved for the _trained monkeys_ , as he called them. "Please! It's not like I didn't know... and as much as I like you..." He waved his fingers in a so-so gesture. "Soft sciences?"

"I thought you were going to respect me in the morning."

"Soft sciences?" he repeated as if Daniel truly was an imbecile. Daniel punched him lightly on the shoulder before braving the cold of the room to get a washcloth to clean his lover.

They drifted off a little, wrapped in the warmth of each other's arms but, eventually, Daniel knew he had to leave before the day shift awoke and started moving through the corridors. He tugged on his clothing and headed towards the door.

"Wait."

Daniel turned back and narrowed his eyes in curiosity as Rodney jumped out of bed to grab his laptop from the small desk. Rodney climbed back into bed and booted up the laptop, his fingers dancing over the keyboard before he looked up and offered Daniel that patented McKay smirk.

"Kavanagh knows about us and set up an electronic surveillance to capture you leaving my room all disheveled from the most amazing sex you'll get in this galaxy."

Daniel raised both eyebrows, partly in surprise and partly in disbelief at Rodney's proclamation, though he had to admit that the sex really was good. So Kavanagh had moved onto dirty tricks to sway Elizabeth into choosing him as her chief scientist, he mused. Not that he particularly cared what anyone thought of his infrequent night time visits to another man's room as he had never made any attempt to hide his bisexuality. Just he had never advertised it either.

"Okay," Rodney breathed and followed Daniel to the door, surprising him when he kissed Daniel deeply and hungrily within the corridor just outside his room. He pulled back with a smug smile tugging both corners of his mouth upwards and a glint in his eye that Daniel had learned to be very wary of seeing. It meant mischief.

****

"I'm sorry, Rodney, but you don't have the gene."

Rodney fumed as the second test yielded the same results as the first. Of all the people on this base, he deserved to be one of the two percent of the population that carried the unique gene of the Ancients. It was grossly unfair that he should be from plain human stock when he was obviously far superior to the few who did have the ATA gene. There was even some idiot marine with the gene as well as that little Japanese scientist.

Carson Beckett exuded compassion but the voodoo scientist could not change the facts no matter how much Rodney wanted him to be wrong.

"This is so unfair," he griped. There were devices here that could only be activated and used by those with the gene and having to rely upon the good graces of just a few gene carriers was a phenomenal waste of his time, especially as he had to share their favors with every other scientist here. Of course, Rodney made sure he got the lion's share of their time because, hello, important work here for a Doctor of Astrophysics with a second PhD in another hard science discipline.

Of course, Kavanagh seemed to think he should have an equal, if greater, share in their time leaving Rodney seething in the chair room on a number of occasions while he had the only available gene carrier looking through the Ancient equivalent of the sewage system. Admittedly, Kavanagh was no slouch in his field of expertise but even that boy of a lieutenant - Forge? - could figure out the plumbing.

Grumbling not quite under his breath, he accepted the squeeze on his arm from a man who had become a sort of friend in such a relatively short time. Of course, that made him feel a little paranoid until he realized that Carson had this innate ability to become friends with anyone and, amazingly, that even included him. The fact that Rodney liked him back despite Carson's insistence on calling medicine _science_ whereas any self-respecting scientist knew that it was little more than black arts and magic, was almost disturbing.

With a sigh, he left Carson to his laboratory and went back to the chair room where, gene or no gene, he had plenty of work awaiting him. Just it would have been easier if he could have cut out the need for a middle man while he figured out a way to circumnavigate the need for the ATA gene and splice their technology with the Ancient systems.

Several hours passed by fairly productively for once and Rodney was forced to drop his work only for the time it took to drag a very reluctant Carson from his lab and force him to sit in the chair. As he monitored the subsystems, tweaking the calibration to build a better interface between his laptop and the Ancient chair, he thought over the past few weeks.

A lot had changed since O'Neill's disappearance from the stasis pod. Rodney had received a communication from Daniel to say everything was fine and then Elizabeth had arrived to take over as administrator. The IOA had demanded that this site be an international, civilian-led operation and she must have seemed the perfect choice once the SGC was placed back into the hands of the US military - admittedly in the form of now-General Jack O'Neill - but, after two weeks, she had yet to decide who should be her lead scientist. Having the gene would have made it moot point because, in all other areas he was simply the best choice. Kavanagh did not have the gene either but he was determined that he ought to be her chief advisor, having gotten over the loss of the 'full leadership' title quick enough, and was constantly running to Elizabeth with every new discovery no matter how feeble and inconsequential. Often his theories were so outrageous though that Rodney was starting to get a headache from rolling his eyes at the man's antics. It really was like being back at high school with Kavanagh vying for Teacher's Pet. At least Daniel had come back last week to continue with his studies, making it all the more bearable if only for the fantastic blow-job and fucking he'd gained from the man last night. That thought made him wonder when Kavanagh would make his next move to discredit him and, as if conjured up by his thoughts, he heard Elizabeth's voice calling to him.

"Dr. McKay? I'd like to see you... and Dr. Jackson in my office."

Rodney looked up in annoyance as he spotted her standing close by, hating the way people always managed to sneak up on him even if he had been expecting her all day. Also, he hated the way she spoke so formally at times like this, her use of formal names ensuring he knew that this was not some idle chit-chat but a serious problem that needed to be addressed - as if he did not know what Kavanagh was up to. Still, that did not stop him from questioning her timing.

"Can it wait, Elizabeth?" He refused to accept the formality by addressing her back as Dr. Weir. "I'm in the middle of calibrating the inter..."

"No, Rodney. It can't wait." Her eyes narrowed. "Ten minutes."

Rodney opened his mouth to complain but her single raised eyebrow silenced him. He sighed heavily as she turned and walked away, and then looked across at Grodin. Peter shrugged his shoulders and shook his head leaving Rodney no better off. Usually, Grodin knew all the latest gossip floating around the outpost so he had no idea how Elizabeth had taken Kavanagh's accusations of inappropriate behavior from two same-sex members of the science teams. Hopefully, she wasn't as homophobic as the majority of her fellow Americans.

Rodney could not keep the irritation out of his voice as he looked down at Carson, who still had his face scrunched up as if in pain. He sighed heavily and pointed at Grodin.

"Get him out of the chair."

Before Grodin could even take a step forward, Carson leaped up as if the chair was burning his ass and he scurried away fast in case Rodney should change his mind. Rodney sighed again because, of the three gene carriers, Carson was the only one who could even get a faint glow out of the chair. In truth, Rodney needed Jack O'Neill here, if only for one day because the man had the ability to make the chair light up like Times Square at Christmas.

"Find Jackson and... Oh, there you are."

Daniel raised his eyebrows because he had probably been working in the Chair room for the last few hours for all Rodney knew. They walked along to Elizabeth's office together and Rodney was not surprised to see Kavanagh seated in there with a smug grin plastered across his supercilious face.

Elizabeth offered a diplomatic smile and bade Rodney and Daniel to enter and take a seat.

"Now, Dr. Kavanagh. Perhaps you can explain the necessity for this meeting."

"I can do better than explain. I can show you." He switched on his laptop and opened a file, angling the screen towards Elizabeth. "I'm sure that this will make your decision on whom to appoint as Chief Scientist far easier."

Rodney could not see the screen so he watched Elizabeth; she covered a laugh behind her hand before clearing her throat and looking at Kavanagh with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Kavanagh, but I don't see the relevance in this."

Kavanagh seemed shocked momentarily. He spun the laptop back to face him, allowing Rodney and Daniel a chance to see what was being displayed. Daniel was far less successful at smothering the snort of laughter as Rodney watched a rather tall Princess Leia kissing the young Obi Wan Kenobi in the corridor outside Rodney's room. Of course, Rodney was Obi Wan.

"This is...This is... YOU! You altered this."

Kavanagh was red-faced with anger as he pointed a finger at Rodney in accusation but he seemed to know when to admit defeat. He slammed the laptop closed, tucking it under his arm, and stalked out of Elizabeth's office with a backwards glance that spoke of retribution in some form but Rodney brushed it off. After all, Kavanagh didn't have half his brains. Rodney tried to look all innocent as Elizabeth turned to him but failed miserably.

"Dr. McKay, this is a civilian site and if you and Dr. Jackson choose to have a relationship then that is no one else's business."

Rodney frowned because nothing in his life ever went this easy. "But?"

"Just keep it as low key as possible."

"Is that all?"

"Yes." She stated firmly, lips twitching as she fought to hold back a smile and failed.

"Oh! Good." Rodney gave a noncommittal hum and started for the door with Daniel just behind him.

"And Rodney?" He stopped and turned. "If you're going to be my Chief Scientist, I'll expect you to act with a little more discretion in future."

"I am?" The shock faded quickly, replaced by a warm glow. "Of course I am. Who better than me?"

Elizabeth's smile widened as Rodney bounced away, feeling as if someone had put wings under his feet. Daniel tugged on his forearm before they got more than ten feet away, drawing him to a stop.

"Congratulations...Princess Leia? Should I be insulted?"

"Soft sciences?" Rodney stated incredulously by way of an explanation.

"At least I wasn't in the slave costume."

"You are such a princess and you know it."

Daniel laughed softly and walked away, shaking his head. Later that night, he made certain Rodney could never mistake him for a woman, thrusting deep inside Rodney's ass until he had Rodney almost incoherent with pleasure, his keening wails muffled by the pillow beneath his face as Daniel brought them both to yet another bone-melting climax. Afterwards, they lay in a sated heap of tangled limbs.

"Chief Scientist," Rodney sing-songed as he drifted off into a contented sleep despite knowing Daniel would be returning to the SGC tomorrow. He wanted to travel off-world to find some kind of scientific Rosetta stone that would help improve the translations but he had plans to return to Antarctica within a month or maybe two.

Early next morning, Rodney decided to brave the cold and join Daniel for the journey back up to the surface even though he hated the elevator. All through the ride up he focused on the emergency brakes, hoping one of the engineers provided by the US military was maintaining them correctly. Each time the elevator lurched, he dug his fingers into Daniel's forearm.

"Do they check the brakes regularly? What about the rails? Ice melts, you know, so what if a patch melted and the rail was hanging from the ice wall? Has anyone computed how much heat is generated every time the elevator is used?"

"I'm sure we'll be fine, Rodney. See...We're almost at the top."

Rodney lurched out of the elevator as fast as possible, ignoring the eye rolls of the two others sharing the journey with them. He took a deep breath and smiled before he realized he would have to go back down again as soon as he had seen Daniel off. The smile turned to a grimace and Rodney did not even have the luxury of a nice long break to resettle his stomach because the helicopter was already on the landing platform, its pilot flipping switches with all his attention focused on the controls. Rodney walked Daniel to the cockpit, holding the door as Daniel clambered onboard. The pilot turned to face him but all Rodney could see was the slightly tanned skin around a beautifully shaped mouth. Those lips curled up into a semi-smirk but Rodney had no idea what was going on behind the dark aviator glasses that effectively hid the man's eyes. He did notice the mobile eyebrows as the man raised them, though it was anyone's guess what that meant. For all Rodney knew, the man was flirting with him, which was highly unlikely, admittedly, but a man could dream after all.

When the pilot asked Daniel to get strapped in, Rodney tried to place the accent but failed beneath the steady thump and whine of the rotor as it began to turn faster and faster until it became a blur.

Daniel reached out and squeezed Rodney's shoulder through the thickly padded jacket, forced to mouth the words because of the noise.

"Back in a month or so."

Rodney nodded and closed the door. He whined as the helicopter covered him in a thin sheet of snow as it took off, accepting the slap on his back from the young dark-skinned lieutenant with the big grin before heading back towards the elevator.

***

"Wasn't me," Daniel stated as he strode down the corridor next to Jack.

His words seemed so glib compared to the events that had transpired but he and Jack had been through enough danger that showing his obvious relief at seeing Jack alive and whole seemed too unnatural now. Instead, he kept that relief buried inside, not wanting Jack to realize that the main reason why he had pushed Jack to accept the promotion was to see Jack placed less in harm's way. Having a rogue drone fired on him, almost ending his life when he ought to have been safe, should not have come as any kind of shock. Daniel spared a glance for the pilot, whose exceptional skills had kept Jack safe, recognizing him from a month back. At the time, his head had been full of Rodney, Jack, Ancient and saving the world so he had spent the journey wrapped up in his own thoughts but now he wished he had used the opportunity to talk to the man who had saved Jack's life.

Daniel strode off, eager to get this meeting started but he looked back in confusion when Jack ordered the guy not to touch anything because, if the man was anything like Jack then that was almost like ordering the exact opposite. Then he wondered why Jack had brought the guy down in the elevator. To all but a few in McMurdo, this was just yet another international scientific research outpost with McMurdo providing a transportation service. Sheppard had been coming back and forth for months with scientists and supplies without anyone letting him beyond the domed research labs and accommodations at the surface.

Exceptional flying skills.

It took a lot to impress someone as jaded as Jack so, clearly, he had made a spur of the moment decision to bring this one into the Stargate project but leaving him to wander around the Ancient outpost unsupervised seemed a little gung-ho even for Jack. Still, Daniel had long ago accepted that Jack was not as stupid as he made out and that there was a razor-sharp intelligence glinting beneath the often laconic surface. Jack had his reasons and Daniel had his own exciting discoveries to share now that Jack was here. He led Jack to where Elizabeth and Rodney were waiting with as much patience as Rodney could ever manage although Daniel wondered if Elizabeth had said something to him as he seemed less jittery and more constipated looking as Jack entered.

Barely a few minutes later, Daniel was ready to revise his idea that Jack was intelligent and call him a military moron when he refused to allow them to use the power of the ZPM to dial up the eight figure address that could lead them to Atlantis. His decision effectively threw on the emergency brakes for the entire expedition, making all of Daniel's work here useless. Exasperated, Daniel tried to explain it in easier terms and inwardly sighed in relief when Jack began to relent...right up until Elizabeth told Jack that everyone on the expedition was willing to risk a one way trip to another galaxy. Jack's eyes hardened slightly as he stared just a fraction too long at Daniel but if he had planned to make any additional comments, they were lost when Carson's anxious voice started yelling for Elizabeth.

***

Rodney ran into the chair room and almost skidded to a stop, mouth gaping open as blue light glowed from not just the chair but from the whole of the platform too. He could feel the hum of incredible power lying beneath his feet, vibrating through the strange metallic alloy that the metallurgists and chemists were still attempting to replicate. Rodney could only describe the man seated in chair as a wet dream, almost too handsome to be human and with a shock of dark hair that seemed to have a life of its own. Yet the man seemed strangely familiar to him in some indefinable way. He tried to sift through his memories but Rodney had never been much of a people person. Instead he gained half-formed images of spiky hair in silhouette and of soft lips lifting in a smirk.

The exasperation in O'Neill's voice mirrored Rodney's own feelings but Rodney stepped in before the Major had the wherewithal to shut down his thoughts. He paraphrased the same instruction he had used earlier with Carson but this time the results were simply amazing, and frustrating.

"Did I do that?"

Being a scientist, Rodney wasn't supposed to believe in love at first sight. Recalling Carson's words earlier, perhaps the sudden lurch of his stomach and that strange falling sensation as Sheppard stared right into his eyes was simply lunch-related too.

***

Jack stared up at the holographic schematic representing the solar system, one eyebrow rising in interest. His gaze dropped to McKay, Elizabeth's chief scientist but rather than looking amazed, the man looked slightly aggrieved. Of course, Daniel looked completely fascinated, with his eyes wide and bright, taking in all the intricate details on the display and, no doubt, trying to decipher every line of Ancient script. He let his gaze travel back towards McKay, taking in the pale but strong features, the soft yet crooked mouth and laser-blue eyes. Whatever dismay had filled those eyes moments earlier had gone now and, instead, he seemed to have come alive with questions and demands flown at the poor unsuspecting helicopter pilot that Jack had sensed had the ATA gene as soon as that drone attacked.

Sheppard looked stunned and confused and that had left him pliable enough to follow McKay's instructions for now.

Jack smiled and turned away, leaving the scientists to do their jobs. Daniel would find him once he'd had time to play with his new toy with McKay. In the meantime, it had been a long haul from Colorado to Antarctica, with no rest in between, and Jack figured he could get in a little nap while everyone else was focused on Sheppard. He had planned on staying overnight anyway.

Hours later, Jack went from sleep to awake in a split second as someone thumped on his door. Without thinking about it, he simply thought open the door, unsurprised when it did his bidding. Daniel stood in the corridor beyond, eyeing the door strangely as he looked from it to Jack, still standing several feet away. He seemed to dismiss whatever thoughts filled his head and stepped inside the room, not showing any surprise when the door closed behind him without either of them touching the control panel.

"Daniel."

"Jack."

"So...McKay."

"He really is the best person for the job. No slight on Sam. And a far better choice than Kavanagh."

"Talking of whom."

"Oh." Daniel grimaced slightly, suddenly understanding that the original reference to Rodney had nothing to do with Elizabeth selecting him as her chief scientist. "You've spoken to Kavanagh."

It was Jack's turn to grimace as he recalled the weasel who had sidled up to him and told him about Daniel's extracurricular activities with McKay, sneaking into and out of McKay's room on at least two known occasions. If Kavanagh had hoped to evoke some strong homophobia on Jack's part then he had been sorely mistaken. The only rise it got out of Jack was regret and a little anger that it was not him sneaking in and out of Daniel's bed. He could not even find it in him to blame McKay because Jack had been given plenty of opportunities to tell Daniel how he felt over the years but had chosen his career instead. Perhaps if Daniel had ever alluded to liking men as well as women before this revelation then things might have been different.

"Is it serious?"

"No." Daniel drew out the negative and Jack sensed it was the truth. He relaxed slightly, realizing that what Daniel had with Rodney was not a life commitment in any shape or form. Just two friends finding companionship and release with no strings attached.

"Good."

"Why?"

Jack raised both eyebrows, surprised that he really didn't have an answer to that. He knew he could make one up about McKay being a pain in the ass, or that he had no intention of allowing Daniel to take a one way trip to the Pegasus galaxy without him and as he could not abandon his duty to Earth, fighting the Goa'uld system lords and Baal in particular, then neither could Daniel. Except he might have let Daniel go if he had wanted to be with McKay.

Daniel took another step closer, expression filled with curiosity as if he was trying to read Jack's thoughts from the myriad of emotions crossing his face. Jack looked back at him, knowing it was entirely possible as Daniel could be very perceptive when he wanted, and he did want Daniel to know.

He had almost died again today and, as the helicopter banked and dived, Jack thought it was a shitty way to end his life and career, under friendly fire. The drone dropping and deactivating almost at his fingertips brought forth the kind of epiphany that Jack could well do without, that life was too short to waste on useless regrets.

"Why?" he repeated back at Daniel, and then took his life, heart and career in his hands as he stepped forward, cupped Daniel's face with both of his hands and kissed him deeply. He pulled back almost immediately. "That's why."

Daniel stared back at him in shock for almost five whole seconds and then they were stumbling backwards, wrapped in each other's arms and kissing as if their very lives depended upon it. Cool air drafted across his skin as Daniel pulled and pushed at his clothing, almost desperate to reach warm skin beneath, the warmth of his hands ghosting over cooling flesh, and raising goosebumps. His own hands were equally busy, determined to touch what he had desired for far too long. When Jack pulled back suddenly, Daniel stared at him in semi-shock, mouth bruised and swollen from their kisses, eyes wide and darkened with desire behind the wire frames and glass. Gently, Jack pulled off Daniel's glasses and laid them carefully on the small bedside cabinet, smiling as Daniel blinked back almost owlishly.

As if by mutual agreement, they slowed their frantic pace, tugging off boots and pants, pulling off fleeces and t-shirts until they were standing almost naked in the cold room.

"Don't they have any heating here?"

Daniel chuckled and led him to the bed, drawing back the cover and sliding in. Memories from his youth flooded back, directing his hands as he rediscovered the strength and beauty of another man's body by touch, so different from a woman. Hard planes and angles existed where he would normally find curves, the tiny, flat disk of a nipple where he would feel the weight of a breast in the palm of his hand. Low moans of pleasure assured him that he was doing okay and wrapping his hand around a cock that wasn't his own felt like a homecoming, with full brass band and a ticker-tape parade. The feel of Daniel's hand had him sobbing low in his throat as they brought each other to a slow and mind-numbing climax.

As he succumbed to sleep, body limp and sated, with Daniel curled against his side and the heaviness of Daniel's arm across his stomach, Jack wished he had taken this chance years before.

THE END...of this part, at least :-)


End file.
